Hi, I’m Jeff Siegfried. I record stupid songs in my parents’ basement (and now in my own basement). Presented here are 500 songs spanning 25 years, 1986-2011…about 1/10 of my catalog…from my first sound experiments at age 11 to the stuff I am doing with my family at age 36. Caution: this is not the kind of music you would hear on the radio!

Feel free to stream and/or download. Click "VBR ZIP" on the left to download a zip disc of all 500 sound files in one shot. Yes, only extremely cool people actually do that.

As an aside, my writing/singing/playing/sound engineering didn’t really take off until about 1992, around the time of “Meant to Be/Nowhereville” (track 179). Still, I have presented the six prior years just to show the complete progression: the raw, candid learning process which we all have gone through in some aspect of our lives, though most do not record it while learning! I happen to have recorded most everything, and here are the highlights. Good luck trying to listen to them.

In the order they appear, these are the people who collaborated with me, writing and/or performing, during the 1986-2011 period presented here: Sarah Siegfried, Mark Henderson, Ted Adamson, April Adamson, Susan Siegfried, Peter Rasmussen, Dave Olson, Jamey Grothe, Matt Jurcich, Abby Pelham, Jordan Lee, Dan Vierow, Christine Miller, Christopher Siegfried, Wendy Laine, Jason Canfield, Dylan Nau, Sam Bergstrom, Dan Christensen, Anna Ericson, Marv Dahlgren, Melissa Wieland, Greg Setterholm, Jennifer Grimm, Gene Adams, Casey Kashiemer, Jake Pool, Eric Bequeaith, Steve Olmstead, Aaron Stoehr, Scott Holzinger, Peter Miller, James Pope, Greg Reierson, Troy Todnam, Jack Siegfried, Chris Vander Poll, Buzz Chopper, Jeff Westervelt, Jason Marks, Andrew Schwandt, Jill Peachey, Lou Siegfried, Stephen Morse, Marty Siegfried, Augie Siegfried, White Buffalo Calf Woman, Holiness David Running Eagle.

Visit my family's website at thesiegfrieds.webstarts.com.

The yearly breakdown of tracks is as follows:

1986 Age 11, Tracks 1-4 (Just a Kid: First Sound Experiments)
1987 Age 12, Tracks 5-26 (Bum Supply, Texas Instrument, and Saxophone)
1988 Age 13, Tracks 27-54 (Sudden Ability: Casio Keyboard and Lyrics)
1989 Age 14, Tracks 55-78 (Hard Work: Learning to Write/Play Changes)
1990 Age 15, Tracks 79-85 (Minimal Progress: Experiments with Song Form)
1991 Age 16, Tracks 86-126 (Letting Go of Ego: Reaching a Style)
1992 Age 17, Tracks 127-186 (Gloved Rabbit: Things Suddenly Click)
1993 Age 18, Tracks 187-232 (A Resolutioin to Stop Creates The Writing Machine)
1994 Age 19, Tracks 233-280 (Artful Realization: Splicing "Feels")
1995 Age 20, Tracks 281-293 (Mentors, College, and New Ideas)
1996 Age 21, Tracks 294-337 (Looking Back While Moving Forward: 10 Years of Stupidity)
1997 Age 22, Tracks 338-365 (Transition: Learning to Doing)
1998 Age 23, Tracks 366-376 (The Minneapolis Scene: Writing and Arranging)
1999 Age 24, Tracks 377-385 (Focus on Rehearsing, Touring, and High-Speed Writing)
2000 Age 25, Tracks 386-392 ($100/Hour: Recording Professionally)
2001 Age 26, Tracks 393-395 (Having a Baby and Marriage Gone Awry)
2002 Age 27, Tracks 396-399 (Leaving and Picking Up the Pieces)
2003 Age 28, Tracks 400-440 (Back To Basics and Buddies)
2004 Age 29, Tracks 441-449 (Homelessness, Lawyers, and Tuition)
2005 Age 30, Tracks 450-452 (Hope, Home, and Remarriage)
2006 Age 31, Tracks 453-458 (Summer Fun, Wife, and Kids)
2007 Age 32, Tracks 459-461 (Still Thankful: Laid Off, Pregnant, and Foreclosed On)
2008 Age 33, Tracks 462-468 (Eviction: Another Brush with Homelessness)
2009 Age 34, Tracks 469-472 (Middle of Nowhere, Shelter, and Film Music)
2010 Age 35, Tracks 473-479 (Getting Back: Surviving and Fighting)
2011 Age 36, Tracks 480-500 (Family of Six Musicians: Who Knew?)


This audio is part of the collection: Community Audio
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Artist/Composer: Jeff Siegfried
Keywords: Jeff Siegfried Stupid Songs From The Basement And Beyond

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Reviewer: AbbaLorenzo - - October 4, 2011
Subject: Intriguing!
Quite a surprising and amazing succession of musical growth. I've spent the last week and a half with this on my ipod and played from beginning to end, often amazed by the artfulness and sheer volume. As a musician myself, I understood the half-finished works and appreciated the honesty in presenting them here. Would love to hear the other 9/10ths of your catalog. Thanks for taking the time and leap to post all of this.

Reviewer: T232 - - September 26, 2011
Subject: Review
Fantastic. Thanks for sharing this with the world.

Reviewer: Anonymous III - - September 22, 2011
Subject: Happy 25th Anniversary!
I consider hearing your music part of my education. Trying to imagine how you'd come up with that stuff, musically, lyrics, composition...I'm still mystified by it in fact. Happy 25th Anniversary! Congratulations on all with the family, and I'll be listening for more.

Reviewer: Jeff Siegfried - - September 22, 2011
Subject: Test
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